


Crash Landing

by BaronVonChop



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Blood, F/M, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-20
Updated: 2019-04-20
Packaged: 2020-01-22 22:22:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18536638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BaronVonChop/pseuds/BaronVonChop
Summary: Finn and Rey crash on a planet and must work together to survive.





	Crash Landing

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to my wonderful beta reader for assistance! Any remaining mistakes are my own.

Finn returns to consciousness slowly, which isn't right. He is used to waking up quickly, thanks to his stormtrooper training, ready to jump to his feet and face a surprise inspection. Instead, he struggles toward wakefulness. When he surfaces, he tries to make sense of his surroundings. He's in the Resistance scout ship, but there is gray sky and rocks where half of the ship should be. Is he still dreaming? He is in pain, but he cannot concentrate enough to identify what hurts. Then he slides back into darkness.

He careens through a haze, his body heavy but also weightless. Everything seems indistinct as he bounces between ships and rocks, rocks and ships, a spaceship made of rocks. It is exhausting, and he longs for rest.

As he tumbles around that dim, swirling fog, he becomes aware of something warm and bright in the distance. He can barely make it out, but it is there, and that reassures him. Slowly it draws closer, and time seems to stretch as he hopes that it will reach him.

It must be Rey. If he can just reach her, maybe then he can rest. As she approaches, the swirling impressions of rocks and starships begin to calm, until he feels like he is floating in gray water.

His consciousness bobs back to the surface. Recent memories surface one by one, like moments remembered from a dream. They were on a mission to scout uninhabited planets which might be suitable for forward bases. Finn found a planet that seemed promising, but a First Order patrol ship ambushed them when they came out of hyperspace. Finn managed to blow the enemy ship to pieces, but not before it damaged their vessel. They plunged toward a planet, alarms blaring, their ship trailing smoke and fire as they tried to find a place to set down. He remembers sending a desperate message to Resistance headquarters, calling for help, while Rey struggled to get the ship under control enough to try to land it. As they hurtled toward the rapidly growing landmasses of the planet below, Rey called out as each system failed.

Finn remembers the frustration, sending a transmission without even knowing if it was getting through, while Rey handled the much more pressing task of making sure they survived the inevitable crash.

His memories jumble together in his throbbing head, but something catches his attention. He drags his mind back to his current predicament. He can smell smoke, some blood, and fried wiring. There is another scent too, something urgent, but as he tries to pinpoint it, it becomes elusive. He can feel himself fading, but some instinct is telling him that he has to do something before he loses consciousness again.

That scent is still there, acrid and pungent. His eyes open wider. "Fuel!" he sputters out and starts coughing. The fuel must have spilled after the crash, and if the damaged wiring sparks nearby, or a circuit overheats, or...

He hears footsteps hurrying closer and a figure kneels down next to him. "I'm on it," Rey says. It is so,so good to hear her voice. He nods, relieved and grateful. "Now rest," she says, somewhat needlessly, as he feels his mind go fuzzy. He drifts back into unconsciousness.

He sleeps, vaguely aware that his body is still sore and aching, glad not to have to deal with that yet. It can wait until later, when he is stronger.

He awakes when he feels someone press a metal tin into his hands. He looks up to see Rey, her face streaked with grime and blood. Her clothes are dirty, and he sees a gash on her sleeve and a cut on the leg of her pants, both stained with blood.

He tries to ask "Are you all right?" but his throat closes on the words and he starts to cough. His coughs are weak, unable to dislodge whatever is in his throat and chest, so he keeps coughing. He tastes smoke.

Rey places one hand on his back and helps him raise the tin to his lips. He tries to drink but coughs into the tin, spluttering against the liquid inside. He tries again and manages to down a small swallow of warm, rich broth, then another. His coughing subsides. Rey lifts the collar of his shirt and wipes the liquid from his face. Finn feels like a child, which is strange. He can't remember his childhood before the First Order, and certainly nobody in the First Order ever showed him this sort of kindness.

He sinks back, and for a moment he worries that he will fade back into unconsciousness. He shakes his head to fight it off. Is it early morning or late evening? The sky is dull gray, with the rumpled look of heavy clouds. It could be any time of day, then. He sips from the tin.

Rey gives a small, reassuring smile. "Feeling better?" she asks.

Finn wonders at the concern in her voice and her eyes. He never thought that anyone would feel that kind of concern for him. He is touched, yet he feels bad for making her worry. "Yeah, thanks," he says. His head throbs with pain, and he rests it against the wall of the ship. "How long was I out?"

"It's been several hours. I was really worried."

Finn drinks more broth. He knows he needs to take inventory of his injuries. He moves first one leg, then the other. Both of his arms seem to be working, too. He feels a tug in his left side as he moves. He aches all over, but especially in his side. He opens his jacket to see that his shirt has a large bloodstain over that spot.

He sets the tin down carefully with both hands, not trusting himself not to spill the broth. He touches his side gingerly and suppresses a wince. He can feel something bulky under his blood-crusted shirt, so he lifts it and finds a bandage wrapped around his torso, which holds a bloody cloth in place over his left side.

Rey explains, "I wrapped it up as best I could. To be honest, I'm not really used to treating other people's wounds."

Finn lowers his shirt back down. He meets Rey's eyes. "Thank you."

Rey crouches down to be at eye level with him. She places one of her hands over his. "Hey, you would have done the same for me."

There is something else Finn wants to say. While he was unconscious, he felt sure that the presence he felt was Rey's, but it seems strange to compare that to the flesh and blood person before him. "When I was out, I thought I could feel you nearby."

Rey beams. "I'm still not very good at healing people through the Force. I'm glad it worked a little!"

Finn smiles. "You're amazing."

Rey pulls Finn's shirt gently back into place. "You should rest. Finish your drink, then try to get some sleep."

"What about you?"

Rey stands and looks around. "I've looked around the area a bit already, but I need to properly scout the area. This planet doesn't have any settlements, but there may be local predators to watch out for."

"I can help!" Finn says, despite all evidence to the contrary.

He can see the concern behind her fond eyes. "Finn, you can't even stand."

"I can make a crutch, or, or find a long stick to lean on..."

"Finn." She touches his cheek. "It's all right."

"Be careful," he says, though it feels insufficient.

Rey turns to him and smiles, confident. "Don't worry! This will be a chance for me to practice sensing my surroundings with the Force. That should keep anything from sneaking up on me." Her forehead creases for a moment. "Hopefully. If I do it right."

"You've got this," Finn says, his voice quiet as fatigue swirls through his head.

"Rest," Rey says. "I'll be back soon."

It feels nice to let himself fall asleep on purpose, as opposed to passing out.

In his dreams, he trudges through a house that is also a base, carrying his pillow, blanket, and sleeping mat. He looks for a quiet place to rest, but each time he starts to bed down, something interrupts him. A corridor suddenly fills with pilots dashing toward an alarm, or a courtyard is caught in a downpour, or a conference room gets crammed with people listening to a briefing. Each time, he first tries to curl up and ignore it, but he cannot fall asleep, so he eventually gives up, gathers his things, and goes off to find a different place to sleep.

When he wakes, he lets out a long groan. He feels just as tired as when he fell asleep. The sky is much darker now, and he can see two moons and a few stars.

He looks around in the gloom for Rey. When he does not see her, he listens to see if he can hear her nearby, but all is quiet.

He uses the wall to work himself slowly up to a standing position. It takes him a while, puffing and groaning, but he manages to do it without jostling his wound too badly.

Once he is standing, he is able to gently make his way around the ship to the cockpit. Part of the cockpit is smashed in, and Finn pauses, grateful that he and Rey both survived the crash. He eases his way down to kneel by the pilot's chair and opens a compartment. Inside is a portable glowlamp and a small blaster pistol. He pockets the glowlamp and tucks the blaster pistol into the back of his waistband.

He tries to rise too quickly and has to lower himself back to a crouch, hissing through his teeth. His second attempt is successful, and he is able to totter forward toward the broken edge of the ship, keeping one hand on the wall and the other hand pressed to his side. Even this short trip wears him out, and he catches his breath while looking out. Gray-black, rocky ground stretches out in hills and valleys, with occasional columns of rock breaking up the landscape. Orange patches of fibrous plants cling to some of the rocks, and clusters of yellow stalks with small red flowers grow in the shadows of the columns.

He can see Rey in the distance, hurrying toward him. Her furrowed brow and tight lips make his stomach clench. Something must be wrong.

Finn tries to walk toward her. He stumbles forward a few steps, but with nothing to lean against, his legs buckle. Rey puts on an extra burst of speed and catches him before he hits the ground.

"Rey," he gasps as she helps him stand again, "what is it?"

Her voice is grim as she says, "Stormtroopers. They're coming this way. There's no way they could miss the ship, so we have to move."

The moons and stars shine bright and cold above them. He strains his eyes for the glint of moonlight on white armor. He shivers. "Where can we go?"

"There are some cliffs on the other side of the ship. I saw some caves in the cliffs. We may be able to hide there until help arrives."

Finn slumps. "Until help arrives? What help?"

Rey smiles, reassuring. "Someone must have heard your distress call."

Finn does not feel so sure, but he sees no point in arguing. "Okay, let's try your caves."

Rey goes around the ship gathering things into a backpack. Their ship has containers of rations, water, and other supplies. Rey moves with purpose, efficiently gathering things they will need.

Finn takes a step forward. "I can help carry things."

"Finn." Rey says it gently, but it still hurts to be reminded of how useless he is currently. It does not take Rey long to finish and return to Finn. "Ready?" she asks.

He nods and hands her the glowlamp he found earlier, his meager contribution to her pack. "Yeah. Let's go." He takes a few steps away from the ship. His foot slips on a loose rock, and for a second he fights to maintain his balance, but he manages to stay upright.

Rey takes his arm and puts it over her shoulder across the straps of her backpack. Finn shakes his head, protesting, "You shouldn't have to carry me, too."

"Then only lean on me a little," she replies, a little bit of annoyance creeping into her voice. "Now come on!"

They start off. Rey sets a quick pace, and Finn is determined to keep up. He clutches his injured side with his free hand, sweating despite the cold. He tries to keep his feet moving while supporting as much of his weight as he can, but the longer they keep it up, the more he has to rely on Rey.

They make for a cliff which rises up before them, its surface painted shades of gray by the moonlight under the black sky shining with stars. Finn tries to make out which pools of darkness in the cliffside might be caves, but he can only guess. The distance is deceptive, and as they struggle onward, Finn's side starts to pulse with pain at every step.

"How much farther?" he asks through gritted teeth.

"Almost there," Rey says. She slows down, allowing Finn to get his feet under him. "You can make it!"

They finally reach the foot of the cliff, and they both pause for breath. The ground here slopes upward like a steep hill, and it should be possible to climb it, but Finn does not relish the thought.

Finn asks Rey, "How high up are the caves?"

"We should be able to reach the lower ones without too much trouble," she replies. "Let's hope one of them is deep enough to hide in."

Finn peers behind them into the gloom. He can make out the shape of the ship. A slight gleam in the moonlight is the only thing that distinguishes it from a rock formation. "Are they following us?"

Rey turns, takes a breath, and closes her eyes. Finn feels goosebumps prickle his arms at the thought that Rey is reaching out with the Force. He waits for Rey to say something. When he realizes that he is holding his breath, he breathes out and takes a deep breath in, as quietly as he can so as not to disturb her.

When she speaks, her voice is quiet, but it still startles Finn. "They've passed the ship. They're coming this way." She opens her eyes. "They must have found our trail. Come on, we don't have much time."

Now that she says it, Finn thinks he can see the far-off, ghostly shapes of stormtroopers, getting closer. He nods, but he still hesitates. Maybe they could make a stand here. Rey has the Force, and Finn has a blaster. It would be a long shot, but it has its appeal over having to move again. Then he sees Rey and the urgency shining in her eyes and he knows that it would be disastrous to try to fight a whole squad of stormtroopers out in the open, with the equipment they have, and with him being in the state he is in.

Rey steps close to him and he puts his arm over her shoulder. She pats his hand reassuringly. He breathes in and out through his nose a few times, steeling himself. The first step with his right leg is not so bad, so he takes a step with his left leg, and this time pain thuds through his side. He winces and groans.

"Just take it one step at a time," Rey says. He can hear the exhaustion in her voice.

Finn nods and takes another step with his right leg. This time, he only moves his left leg even with his right leg. He can still feel it in his side, but it is not so bad this time. He limps along like this, leaning on Rey, until they reach a bush. It presents such a ridiculous obstacle, but he stops, unwilling to take the extra steps to go around it, while also lacking the strength to crash through it.

He considers drawing his pistol to blast the bush, but the stormtroopers chasing them would see the flash.

"We'll go around," Rey says, as though sensing his thoughts. He wonders if she used the Force, though he supposes his line of thought was fairly obvious.

Each moment seems to stretch, but they make their way around the bush until they are finally on the other side and able to continue. As they trudge their way up the slope, Finn decides that, when he reflects back on this mission, he will probably always think of that bush. He hopes he survives that long.

At last, they arrive at a cave. The entrance is low and narrow, with a few small bushes growing in front of it. They pause to rest, and Rey gestures to the bushes and smiles. "Your nemesis brought reinforcements."

Finn manages a weak chuckle in response.

Luckily, he can step over these bushes without too much trouble, so they enter the cave. He has to duck and squat, but at least he can lean on the wall. They only go in a few feet before they reach the back wall. Finn sighs, and the sound is strange in the closed space. His side is in constant pain now, and he feels so weak that he fears he might simply fold over and collapse. The cave smells musty, and he can also smell his own sweat.

"You'd better stay here," Rey says, her voice quiet. "I'll check the other caves to see if there's a better place to hide."

Finn wants to protest, but more than that, he wants to rest. He nods and sinks down against the back of the cave. "Okay."

"I'll come back for you." With that, she departs, her feet quiet on the stone.

Finn takes his blaster out and places it on the ground near him. He tells himself it is so that he can be ready in case the stormtroopers find him before Rey returns, but it is also so that it does not press against his back as he leans against the wall of the cave. He is exhausted and drenched in cold sweat, out of breath, and his side aches. He places a hand over his side, and it comes away damp where he has bled through both his bandage and his shirt. Sighing, he lets his head sink back until it hits the rough rock behind him.

It seems like Rey barely left when she reappears in the cave entrance. For a second he thinks it must be a stormtrooper, and he considers reaching for his blaster, but he recognizes her silhouette against the star-studded sky behind her. Could he have fallen asleep? It seems unlikely, given how much pain he is in, but he knows from experience that sometimes exhaustion overrides all other concerns.

She crosses to him in a moment. She is not wearing her pack, so she must have left it in the cave she found. "We have to move fast," she whispers.

Finn fumbles for the blaster while she helps him up. He tucks it into his waistband again and limps to the mouth of the cave. They crouch there for a moment, and this time he definitely sees the stormtroopers on their trail. They are still a distance out, their white armor gray in the moonlight. He hopes that the darkness will hide him and Rey from the stormtroopers' night vision, but he can't be sure.

He leans on Rey more than ever. All he can do is move one foot, then the other, as they make their way up. Rey must be exhausted, too, but she never complains, even when his legs give out and he slumps to the ground. She gives him a moment, probably more than she would give herself, before she helps him up and they keep going.

He raises his head, wipes stinging sweat from his eyes, and sees a narrow cave entrance above and to their right. He tries to turn toward it, but Rey corrects his course with a grunt. Finn knows that it must have been too shallow to make an effective hiding spot, but he still finds it hard to continue up past it.

Without warning, the shrill sound of a blaster shot comes from the base of the cliff, and their surrounding flash red as a blaster bolt zips past them.

"Run!" Rey shouts.

Finn tries for find the strength to run, but all he feels is hollow exhaustion. "I can't," he pleads.

"Yes you can!" Rey says. She turns to him, her eyes bright with determination in the darkness. "You have to!"

How easy it would be to sink down and rest. Maybe if he falls asleep again, his side won't even hurt as much. "Leave me," he says. "You can make it."

A second blaster bolt hits the cliff near them, peppering them both with bits of rock. "I'm not leaving you, Finn!" He can hear the exhaustion in her voice, and the edge of fear creeping in. Then, her tone hardens. "Move it, soldier!"

Her voice stirs something deep inside him, drilled into him by endless hours of training. For a moment, his exhaustion, his injury, and his fear fade into the background, eclipsed by the foundation of every soldier: the need to follow orders.

He pushes forward, falling more than walking, but he falls from one foot to the other and somehow makes progress. There is more blaster fire from below, and each time he winces at the anticipation that a blast will hit him, or worse, hit Rey.

Then he stumbles, and his stomach lurches as he falls forward. He doesn't know how he will get back up again, but it's okay, because they are in the cave Rey found. Finn crawls forward on his hands and knees for a few meters, while Rey holds him up by the sides so that he does not collapse.

It is dark in the cave, where the light of the stars and moons cannot reach. He feels for the wall and finds it. "We made it... we made it..." he pants. Gritting his teeth, he uses the wall to stand back up. Leaning on the wall, with Rey's arm around him to steady and guide him, he goes deeper.

It is so dark that he can barely tell that his eyes are open, but Rey moves with confidence. He wonders if her Jedi training sharpened her eyesight, or if she is sensing her surroundings through the Force. Then he hears a thud and Rey comes to a stop with an exclamation. He hears what can only be her rubbing her head while grumbling. So there are limits to Jedi powers, he thinks with exhausted fondness.

When they are both winded, they stop, leaning on the wall. Their gasps echo strangely around them. Finn looks back the way they came and sees only darkness. The tunnel must have turned so that they can no longer see the light of the entrance.

When he leans his hands on his thighs, he can feel where his trousers are damp with the blood leaking from his side. How much blood has he lost already? Well, there is not much he can do about it now.

Neither of them brings up the thought Finn has been trying to avoid: what they will do when they reach the back of the cave. When they have somewhat caught their breath, Rey whispers, "Ready?" In response, Finn starts to trudge forward again. Perhaps they are only delaying the inevitable, but he can see no alternative.

It is hard to tell time in the cave, but it seems all too soon that the cave narrows. He kicks something that turns out to be Rey's pack, and that is it. They are as deep as they can go.

Finn tumbles to the ground, and Rey sinks down next to him.

"I'm sorry..." he gasps. "I'm so sorry..."

They can hear voices behind them in the tunnel. With the echo, it is impossible to tell how far away they are.

Rey's voice is surprisingly calm. "There must be something we can do." He reaches for her and touches her knee. She must be sitting in the lotus position. "Maybe I can use the Force to collapse the tunnel."

Finn draws his blaster. "Would it be easier for you if I shoot the ceiling, and then you could make sure it doesn't crush us when it falls? If you could leave a gap by the ceiling, we could still get air, and then..." He trails off. And then they could stay here and slowly die of hunger and dehydration.

They wait. The voices in the cave seem to be getting closer, and now they can also hear echoes of stomping footsteps.

"Wait!" Rey says, excitement in her voice. Finn's heart leaps in his chest. He is about to ask her what she sensed when he hears something. It is far away, and the sound is distorted by the cave, but it can only be the sound of an X-Wing's engines. A moment later, they hear the X-Wing's cannons, followed by an explosion that shakes the cave.

They hear shouts in the cave. The stormtroopers who were already in the cave were protected from the shooting, and now their footsteps pick up as they hurry toward Finn and Rey.

"Be ready to shoot," Rey says. She rummages through her pack and takes something out. Something about her breathing changes, and he knows she is using the Force as he hears something metallic skitter away from them across the dirt and stone of the cave floor.

A stormtrooper's mechanically-filtered voice calls out, "There they are!"

"Now!" Rey says.

The cave lights up with sharp white light as Rey uses the Force to activate the glowlamp she had guided out among the stormtroopers. The stormtroopers stumble, crying out as the light overloads their night vision. The light stabs at Finn's eyes after the near-total darkness. He squints reflexively but forces himself to keep his eyes open. He only has a moment to act before the stormtroopers recover. He raises his blaster and fires at the silhouettes that seem to dance in the painful brightness. The sound of his blaster bounces around the cave, and Finn flinches as he thinks for a moment that the stormtroopers are shooting back.

His eyes are watering and a splitting headache threatens to send him reeling. He has to close his eyes. Even with his eyes squeezed shut, purple splotches float in his vision.

He hopes he hit all the stormtroopers, but even if he didn't, he does not think he can bring his aching eyes to open again.

Rey puts her hand on his shoulder. "We're safe," she whispers, as though reading his thoughts. He hears her footsteps walks over to the lamp. His vision behind his eyelids goes from red to black as she turns the glowlamp off, but the purple splotches remain. Rey walks back to Finn, picks up her pack, and quietly takes him by the hand.

"Just give me a minute," Finn says. He reconsiders as his head spins. "A few minutes."

"We need to get you out of here. You need medical attention. You've lost a lot of blood." Despite her exhaustion, Rey almost keeps her voice steady, but he can hear it waver with concern.

Finn lets her put his arm over her shoulder. "Okay. Let's go."

This time, they both hit their heads on the same overhang Rey hit on the way in. Despite it all, they both share a quiet laugh before they continue.

It feels like so much time has passed that Finn is almost surprised to see that it is still night. Finn almost collapses with relief at the sight of a pair of X-Wings and a transport waiting near the foot of the cliff. As they start to make their way down, someone near the ships takes several running steps toward them, pointing. He hears Poe's voice drift up to them: "There they are! Come on, quick!"

Poe rushes up toward them, stumbling and scrambling up the slope with the other X-Wing pilot and several soldiers following behind him. The soldiers carry two stretchers. When they reach Finn and Rey, Rey helps Finn onto a stretcher before she nearly collapses, falling to her knees.

Poe's face looks pale in the light of the moons as he looks down at Finn. "Hang in there, buddy. We've got emergency medical supplies on the transport."

Poe insists on helping to carry Finn's stretcher down. Poe tries to get Rey to get on a stretcher, too, but Rey shakes her head. Finn is fading in and out of consciousness by this point, but he feels Rey take his hand as she walks beside his stretcher down toward the transports.

As a medic starts to treat Finn, Rey manages a smile. "Next time, I pick the mission."


End file.
